ART LEGACY AND COMMUNITY

VALLEY ADVOCATE: COLLISION COURSE - RACE RELATIONS, AS SEEN FROM OUTER SPACE:"This is no illustrated lecture. It’s a fact-based sci-fi fantasy that imagines a group of alien time-travelers, cosmic anthropologists 'scrolling through their intergalactic Rolodex on the subject of racism in America and citizenship,' Chong said. 'I want the audience to see through the eyes of the aliens, the better to see the madness of racism.'" Chris Rohmann of the Valley Advocate interviews Ping Chong for StageStruck. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE.

​UMASS RESEARCH NEXT FEATURE ARTICLE: COLLIDESCOPE 2.0:Students in the devised theater class researched local history for Collidescope 2.0, a production which looks at the troubled, often violent, history of race relations in the U.S. ​CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE.

UMASS ALUMNI MAGAZINE ARTICLEIf America’s race history were to be viewed by another planetary culture, what would it look like to them? Laura Marjorie Miller reviews Collidescope 2.0 in "Loving the Alien"...CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE. Or DOWNLOAD here.

MEETING ONE OF THE MINDS BEHIND COLLIDESCOPE: CO-CREATOR TALVIN WILKS:Priscilla Page '01G, the dramaturg for the project, has been writing about various aspects of the work for the past two years, and in this issue of Stages, she profiles one of the primary players of the piece, Talvin Wilks. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW.

TCG ARTICLE ON UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND PRODUCTION OF COLLIDESCOPE 1.0:"In response to the seemingly perpetual killings of young black men in America, internationally acclaimed auteur Ping Chong and noted director and dramaturg Talvin Wilks created Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America in collaboration with the University of Maryland School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies' graduate and undergraduate designers and performers. The show ran November 7-14 at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and was a world premiere performance. Before the opening, Ping and Talvin responded to a few questions from Leigh Wilson Smiley, the director of TDPS." CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW.

COLLIDESCOPE 2.0 PART 2 - FRACTALS & THE FABRIC OF LIFE:"The use of fractal geometry in Collidescope 2.0 works differently in each scene of the play, which illuminates the history of race relations in the United States. Just as we can see patterns of racial conflict across history in the play, we can see patterns of fractals in the set; each aspect breaks down a whole into it’s essential elements which are then repeated. Thus, according to projection designer Katherine Freer, the design of Collidescope 2.0 present essential elements that are summoned from within the physical surfaces of the set and provides context to events in the production." CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE.